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Gone Ice Fishin'
Gone Ice Fishin' is a short animated film created for both Storyboarding and Portfolio classes at College of the Canyons. The film prominently features the ice fisherman from LEGO Minifigures series 5 interacting with traditionally-animated animal characters in an escapade to catch dinner. Film Details *'Release Date:' June 1, 2012 *'Running Time:' 2 min. *'MPAA Rating:' G *'Director:' Andrew Bermudez *'Producer:' Paval Vogler *'Writer:' Andrew Bermudez Plot Summary Out in the arctic, an ice fisherman is patiently waiting with his fishing line in a hole in the ice when he feels a tug. Reeling the line, he is happy to have snagged a fish. He unhooks the fish, then sets it on the snow so he can put away his fishing line. However, when he reaches back for the fish, he sees that a polar bear has taken it. Enraged, the ice fisherman gives pursuit. Some distance away, the polar bear turns toward his pursuer and, in an act of malice, swallows the fish whole. However, clinging onto life, the fish yanks the polar bear's mouth open, jumps out, and runs away. Both the ice fisherman and polar bear pursue the fish. Out on the coastline, the fish makes a head dive into the ocean. The polar bear and the ice fisherman try to jump at it, but end up hitting into each other and falling back. Later in the day, the ice fisherman, upset with the loss, pulls a pizza out of his lunchbox, but then notices the polar bear's sorrowful expression. Out of kindness, the ice fisherman shares his pizza. The polar bear is comforted by this move, who then shares his soft drink with the ice fisherman. They enjoy the rest of the evening as friends. Production History The film was created for MEA 109, Storyboarding and Story Development, at College of the Canyons as a part animation, part animatic project. The idea to include the ice fisherman collectible minifigure came from several fan responses to Freddy and Joey in Corn Farm, asking when Mustache Maniacs Film Co.'s next brickfilm would be. Originally, the entire film was going to be stop-motion animation, but the animals were changed to traditional animation when director Andrew Bermudez realized that there was no other way to get the needed expressions out of the polar bear. The film was officially announced on October 8, 2011 on the Mustache Maniacs Film Co. Press Room, with an original release aimed for December 9th. However, when problems began to plague the traditional animation portion of the film, it had to be delayed indefinitely. The film was finished as part of MEA 295, Professional Practices/Portfolio, at College of the Canyons, and premiered on the last day of class, May 25, 2012. On September 28, 2018, this film was re-released to correct technical issues and to complete never-realized special effects. Audience Reception The film was finally released on June 1, 2012 to much critical acclaim. Some have even called it Mustache Maniacs Film Co.'s best short film, marking a breakthrough for the creators, as it is one of the first attempts to combine a stop motion animation brickfilm with traditional animation. Characters *Ice Fisherman (n/a) *Polar Bear (Andrew Bermudez) *Arctic Cod (n/a) Locations The following locations are featured in Gone Ice Fishin'. * Alaska Credits *Andrew Bermudez - Creator, Director, Writer, Animator, Editor, Voice Actor *Teresa Bermudez - Assistant Director, Adviser *Paval Vogler - Teacher (MEA 109), Producer, Adviser *David Nordstrom - Teacher (MEA 295), Adviser Tropes Gone Ice Fishin' contains examples of the following tropes. * Art Shift: After the Polar Bear's theft of the fish, the fish in question changes from a single LEGO piece to actually being traditionally animated. This is so that the fish could act once it hopped out of the Polar Bear's mouth. * Bears are Bad News: The Polar Bear steals the Ice Fisherman's fish, setting the plot of the film in motion. * Beary Friendly: At the end of the film, the Polar Bear and Ice Fisherman share their food and become friends. * Beary Funny: The bear is made a fool out of itself when the fish jumps out of its mouth and runs off. Also, at the end of the film, it is revealed that the bear has a bottle of soda. * Everyone Chasing You: Both the Ice Fisherman and the Polar Bear chase the fish. * Flying Seafood Special: While the Arctic Cod cannot fly, it is able to run across the ice for a prolonged period of time before jumping back into the water, making it technically fit this trope. * George Lucas Altered Version: To correct certain issues that the film experienced when it was originally exported, the film was re-edited and re-released on September 28, 2018. The changes the were made to the film are: ** The front end logo was updated to reflect the logo design at the time of re-release. The Drawn to Life Animation logo was also added. ** The entire film received a blue filter, in order to sell the cold atmosphere. ** The title treatment was completely overhauled, with the new one designed to evoke blocks of ice. ** The original opening titles were completely scrapped. ** Magix Movie Edit Pro had a nasty habit of automatically changing aspect ratios upon export, so the original film was a widescreen film squashed to full screen. The re-edit restores the widescreen format. ** Both the polar bear and fish received shadows, something that was suggested for the film originally. * Getting Eaten Is Harmless: Even though the Polar Bear swallows the Arctic Cod whole, it is able to leap out of the Polar Bear's mouth and run off. * Hidden Heart of Gold: Both the Ice Fisherman and Polar Bear are selfish through most of the film. But their desperation for food shows that they are both eager to share, mainly the Ice Fisherman. * Midair Collision: Right after the fish lands in the water, this happens to the Ice Fisherman and Polar Bear, who had both leaped in the air in pursuit. * No Escape but Down: When the Arctic Cod reaches the edge of the water, it makes a dramatic jump into the air and plummets into the water. * Rule of Funny: Essentially, all of the film's breaks in logic can be excused because of this. * Shout-Out: The fact that the Polar Bear has a bottle of soda is a nod to Coca-Cola's polar bear ads, especially since the bottle in the film is red. * Silly Animal Sound: The Polar Bear's roars and moans, while intended to sound like real polar bears, were specifically recorded to convey the emotions that the Polar Bear was feeling throughout the film. * Swallowed Whole: The Polar Bear does this to the fish. Trivia *This is widely considered to be one of the first brickfilms to include characters that were completely animated on paper. *This is the only school-assigned animation project by Mustache Maniacs Film Co. that spanned two classes. *In the original script, the ice fisherman was going to deal with an arctic research team who was disturbing his peace and quiet. The final story stemmed from an ending gag, where the polar bear stole his fish. *While the stop-motion animation part of the film was completed over two days, the traditional animation took 7 months to complete. This was partly due to a few technical difficulties. Gallery Polar Bear Study.jpg|Concept art by Andrew Bermudez Cod And Bear.jpg|Concept art by Andrew Bermudez Background 2.jpg|Concept art by Andrew Bermudez Background 1.jpg|Concept art by Andrew Bermudez Fish.jpg|Turnaround by Andrew Bermudez Ice Fisherman.jpg|Turnaround by Andrew Bermudez Polar Bear.jpg|Turnaround by Andrew Bermudez Gone Ice Fishin 01.jpg|The Ice Fisherman at his fishing hole Sequence 01.Still017.jpg|The Ice Fisherman and Polar Bear chase the fish External Links *Official Web Page *Film on YouTube *Behind the Scenes on YouTube Category:Movies Category:Animation Category:2012 Category:Class Assignment